shrimp and penne' rigate alfredo

This is a quick and easy pasta sauce anyone can make that will absolutely exceed your every Alfredo expectation and be far better than most youve likely had eating out. The key is to only use equal amounts of heavy cream and only freshly grated Asiago cheese for an exceptionally smooth, rich and very flavorful sauce. You can also use Parmesan or Romano cheese, but you will notice some texture to the sauce due to the somewhat drier, aged cheeses.

Ingredients

1- Cup of Penne' Rigate, (has the ridges in it) dry or uncooked if fresh. (DeCecco and Barilla Plus are my 2 favorite pasta brands. Feel free to use any fresh pasta you like).1- Cup of heavy cream (this is an absolute must for nice, rich and smooth sauce)12-frozen EZ-peel 26/30 size shrimp, defrosted, then de-veined and steamed (unpeeled) using a vegetable steamer, until the shrimp just start to curl1/3 Cup- small cut raw broccoli florets1- Tbsp. of lightly salted butter1- Cup of freshly grated and lightly packed BelGioioso brand Asiago cheese. (must)½- small garlic clove, minced or using a garlic press1- pinch of black pepper (fresh cracked fine if possible)1- pinch of fresh grated nutmegSea Salt or Kosher salt - only to your taste. (The grated cheese already has salt in it, so taste first and only add if needed, as too much salt can ruin the nice aged cheese flavor).1½- Qts. of filtered water (plus either sea salt or Kosher salt).

Preparation

Start pasta water to boil.Sauce: In a 2 qt. non-stick sauce pot with a glass lid, over Low-Med., add heavy cream and butter. Cover pot. Whisk a few times as cream heats and butter melts. Re-cover pot. Wait for cream and butter to just start to bubble. Watch carefully and DO NOT let the cream boil over! Add the black pepper and nutmeg, then slowly whisk in the grated cheese to blend and melt. Re-cover pot. When the pasta water boils, season with sea salt and add the pasta. It normally takes about 9-12 min. to cook pasta to an al dente doneness. So this will time it close to the time that the sauce is done. Peel the shrimp and put aside. If using fresh pasta, you can start to boil your water, but wait until the sauce is at least half done to start it, as most fresh pastas cook in about 3-5 min.When the sauce starts to bubble, lower the heat to low (about 2 on elec. stove) and loosely re-cover pot. Sauce will gradually thicken over the next 3-5 min. (If using fresh pasta, start it now to time it to finish with or just after the sauce is done). Whisk slightly one more time, loosely re-cover pot and lower heat to very low (about 1 on elec. stove).Drain the pasta completely and let sit covered about 1 min. Taste test sauce. Add salt if needed, minced garlic and broccoli. Stir to blend. Add the pasta and shrimp to the sauce. Turn off stove burner. Stir and let sauce coat pasta in covered pot. Meanwhile, heat your serving bowls in the microwave for about 60-90 sec. Remove coated pasta to the bowls, topping with your favorite grated cheese. Serve and enjoy!! Recipe serves 2 and it can be multiplied for more portions; just remember to use a 1:1:1 ratio of pasta, heavy cream and grated Asiago, Parmesan or Romano cheese and about 1 Tbsp. of lightly salted butter per each 1 cup of heavy cream that you use that easy!

my notes

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